Chylous ascites: an etiology of peritonitis in infancy.

Fifty-six cases of chylous ascites in patients under the age of fifteen have been reported in the last three hundred years. A case of chylous ascites that presented with the signs and symptoms of peritonitis is reviewed. The normal anatomy and physiology of the intraabdominal lymphatic system, pathophysiology of the entity, as well as a mechanism for diagnosis, are addressed and a treatment algorithm is presented.